Call for prayers, good wishes, karma, whatever....

[hausdok]

Hi All,

Just received a shoutout from the GI net asking for everyone to say a prayer for, or send your positive energy or karma or whatever, to for "Darkhorse" 3rd Battalion 5th Marines and their families. They are in Afghanistan and have lost 12 marines in 4 days.

It would be nice if you all could spread this message far and wide. If nothing else, to let the families of these troopers know that we share their pain.

Semper Fi,

Justin Allen, 23,

Brett Linley, 29,

Matthew Weikert, 29,

Justus Bartett, 27,

Dave Santos, 21,

Chase Stanley, 21,

Jesse Reed, 26,

Matthew Johnson, 21,

Zachary Fisher, 24,

Brandon King, 23,

Christopher Goeke, 23,

Sheldon Tate, 27,

Please, only respond to this if you want to express sympathies but do not respond with any political rants. Just pass this on, please.

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

[charlieb]

I've call my church and they have been added to the prayer list. We have a small army of retired folks and stay at home parents that dedicate their lives to doing just this.

Do you know what their duty is or why they are suffering such heavy losses? Or is that answer one of the "type" that can not be disclosed?

[hausdok]

Hi,

Well, it turns out that the casualties weren't from this week at all; and that the request for prayers went out several months ago, but I think it is nevertheless valid. Once one does a little reading about these guys one comes to realize that this is one really tough, storied bunch of troops. They can use all the support we can send 'em.

According to their website, the official line is that "The Battalion is one of the combat elements of RCT 8, whose mission is to conduct counter insurgency operations in partnership with the International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF) in Afghanistan."

The reality is that this is the same unit that pacified Fallujah in Iraq when it was an insurgent stronghold and now they've been sent in to pacify Sangin, a town in afghanistan that the British Marines held for five years but were unable to make significant progress with. Sangin has accounted for one-third of all British casualties in Afghanistan since 2001.

The battalion's January newsletter tells what kind of progress they've been making and you can read an article about what kind of unit it is here. The unit's motto is "Get Some."

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

[Charles]

Mike,

You are absolutely right. 3/5 suffered a large number of casualties in the Sangin District in Afghanistan after their initial deployment into the country. 3/5 is one of the most decorated units in one of the most famous infantry Regiments in the Marine Corps. They have a distinguished combat history that stretches from Belleau Woods in WWI, Guadacanal in WWII, Chosin Reservoir in Korea, Hue City in Vietnam to Fullajah in Iraq.

I had the pleasure of serving with the Marines of this fine Battalion and Regiment years ago as a Forward Observer and Fire Support Officer.

"Get Some"

Semper Fidelis

Charles

[Rob Amaral]

God bless all of 'em.. !